31 days of horror year 3 day 20 extra 03

Nightmare on Elm Street series overview


In 1984 a new horror franchise series was started. A small company ,New Line Cinema, put everything they had into this film. And when it became a hit ,New Line changed from being just a distributor of small cult films,into one of the bigger movie companies. This film was the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

Nightmare on Elm Street-Based off some articles Wes Craven had read about some Asian teens who were afraid to go to sleep,this film introduced the world to Freddy Kruger. Even today this original entry has some great FX and amazing set pieces. It is also one of the earliest acting jobs for Heather Langencamp and Johnny Depp. Overall the film is great. And if it wasn't for a really shitty ending it would be almost a perfect slasher film. But the ending,which is one of 3 filmed,is so bad it hurts the rest of the film. B-.

Nightmare on Elm Street 2:Freddy's Revenge-Rushed into production when the first film was such a runaway hit. It is now one of the most hated entries in the series.The writers ignore the rules about Freddy that were set up in the original film. And the acting is just goofy. I don't like the film that much,but don't hate it like most fans do. D+.

Nightmare on Elm Street 3:Dream Warriors-Made 2 years after the last one. This had Wes Craven and Heather Langencamp coming back. Dream Warriors is the first of the series I saw,and it is still my favorite. We get appearances from a young Patricia Arquette and Larry Fishburne.To me at least this one does the most work with the mythology of the film. And progresses the storyline the farthest.A.

Nightmare on Elm Street 4:The Dream Master-Part 3 was a huge hit and helped propel Freddy into the mainstream audience. So New Line quickly got to work on a sequel. While most people hate part 2 the most ,part 4 and 5 are the ones I hate the most. We get some OK FX. But most of the acting is pretty bad. C-.

Nightmare on Elm Street 5:The Dream Child-This was the first of the sequels to not make more money than the previous entry.We get a storyline that is a parable about the abortion debate.The FX is better than part 4 and so is the acting. But they both aren't enough to make this a good film. C+.

Freddy's Dead:The Final Nightmare-This was made 2 years after part 5. It was at the time New Line's final Freddy film . So they went all out.We got some great FX and the final 15 minutes or so of the film were in 3D.This is usually most fans second least favorite entry in the series. I personally enjoy it. Sure Freddy has become a borsh belt comedian. But it is way more fun than either parts 4 or 5.I enjoy how they kill off Freddy for the final time. B-.

Wes Craven's New Nightmare-Made 3 years after what was suppose to be the last Freddy film. But this film is a meta-fiction film. And I believe Wes was inspired by Lucio Fulci's Cat in the brain. We get a redesigned Freddy. And this new look for Freddy is great. He looks super creepy. Heather Langencamp comes back and has really improved her acting skills. This would have been the best way to end the series. A-.

Freddy VS Jason-Made almost 10 years after the last Freddy film. This is one that the fans had been wanting for years.And really the film is more about Freddy than Jason. We get a nice throwback to the cruel and evil Freddy of the early films. And less one liners. A-.

Nightmare on Elm Street Remake-Wow were do I start. First off for some unknown reason they replaced Robert Englund with Jackie Earle Hailey. Now Hailey is a good actor. And brings a great amount of sleaze and creepiness to Freddy. But when you think of Freddy you think of Robert. Freddy isn't like Jason,Michael,or Leatherface ,in that you can't really change actors.I saw this opening night,and as of now it is the second worst film I have ever seen in theaters. The FX ,which was mostly CGI was shit. The lead actors were horrible. And most of the changes to the story are bad. The remake is the only entry in the series I don't own. And unless it is given to me or I find it for say a buck I doubt I will ever own it. F-.

31 DAYS OF HORROR YEAR 3 DAY 20

Nightmares &and  Dreamscapes

2006
Warner Brothers DVD

This is the DVD collection of the short lived TNT original series. Each episode took a Stephen King short story and made it into a 40 odd minute episode. For some reason I never bothered to watch it when it was originally airing. And really had forgotten about it till this year. At Coast Con there was a dealer who had a nice selection of brand new DVDs for $5 each or 4 for 20. So I picked up this and 3 other DVD.

Episode 1 is based on the story "Battleground". We get William Hurt as a hitman. Who ends up having to fight off a group of green plastic army men. I am pretty sure this story is from the Night Shift collection. And I keep thinking it has been adapted before. Maybe on Tales from the Darkside or as a "Dollar baby".

The second episode is "Crouch End". We get Claire Folani and Eion Bailey as a couple on vacation in London. Who get lost and end up in a neighborhood that is very very Lovecraftian. This was one of my favorite short stories by Mr. King and the adaptation is well done.

Episode 3 is "Umney's Last Case". I am sure I have read the short story before,but didn't remember shit about it. William H. Macy is a writer who swaps places with the hard boiled detective he created. As always the amazing Mr Macy doesn't let me down.

The 4th episode is based on "The end of the whole mess". In which a guy's genius brother discovers something in the water of a small Texas town that makes people more peaceful. He replicates this and releases it onto the whole world. But there is a small side effect he didn't count on. A few things have been changed from the short story but nothing major.

Episode 5 is "The Road virus heads north". A famous author is on his way back home. And stops off at a yard sale and buys a painting. But the painting seems to be evil. This one has great pacing and conveys the emotions that the short story did so well.

Episode 6 is "The Fifth Quarter". Again I am sure I read the short story this is based on. But I don't remember anything about it or this episode.

The 8th episode is "Autopsy room Four". Which is about a man that comes too and realizes he is about to be given an autopsy while he is still alive. But he can't move or speak. Great tension filled episode. Well done and the ending is nice.

The final episode is "You know they got a hell of a band". A bickering couple on a road trip and make a wrong turn. They end up in the town of "Rock n Roll Heaven". Where it seems every dead rock star is still alive and working in the town. This is my favorite episode of the series. And it seems to be a word for word adaptation of the great short story.

As extras on the DVD we get some behind the scenes features. Interviews with various cast members. A few commentaries. And nice featurette on the FX work on Battleground. Outta the 9 episodes only one of them is truly bad. I wish this could have been a continuing series. Cause there is plenty of King short stories that would work great as 40+ minute episodes on basic cable. Nightmares & Dreamscapes gets a A-.